Confessions
by PeppermintTides
Summary: Off The Hook has just hosted their final Splatfest, and Pearl is itching for changes - changes to their looks, to their music, to every part of their act. There's one change, though, that she has a bit more difficulty suggesting. [Takes place just after the end of Final Fest. Pearlina.]


**Confessions**

"Alright, and that's a wrap. Good work, everyone. See you back here tomorrow!"

The tall, suit-clad inkling seated at the back of the studio stood and bowed politely before turning to leave the room. In her wake, a crowd of film assistants set to work cleaning up the mess from the day. It had been an unusually hectic morning – even moreso than the mornings after Splatfests usually were – and everyone was eager to finish up quickly so that they could get a headstart on enjoying the rest of the day off. Only a few paid any mind to the center stage, where the stars of the day's news broadcast sat in uncharacteristic silence.

Pearl and Marina, the pair famously known as hit pop duo Off The Hook, had been inseparable for nearly four years now. There was no way to deny that the two shared a bond stronger than steel; Pearl was so unabashedly protective of Marina, and Marina so earnestly supportive of Pearl, that more than a few of their fans had speculated they were dating behind the scenes. They weren't, really – no_ way _would someone like Pearl Houzuki bother keeping that a secret, after all – but lately… Pearl had started to spend a lot of time thinking about that.

It had never really crossed her mind, originally. They had first met when Marina was only sixteen, so of course Pearl, being three years her senior, hadn't once thought about the idea of them as a couple. By the time Marina became eighteen and the two started finding success as Off The Hook, Pearl had gotten so accustomed to their shared friendship that even the eventual fan gossip didn't mean much to her. As the years had gone on, however, she had found herself seeing her co-star in a different light.

The idea of romance had only first sparked in Pearl's mind a few months ago, but it had quickly grown and grown from a simple idea into a quiet fantasy. It was something about the way Marina smiled at her; about the way her eyes lit up whenever she started talking about all that complex techno stuff that Pearl never understood; about how gentle and calming and smart and talented and just _everything good _she was. In no time at all, her head had filled itself up with all sorts of mushy, embarrassing feelings that she was both too nervous and "too tough" (in her own opinion) to ever admit to feeling.

Except, as it turned out, those feelings were perfectly capable of revealing themselves on live television in front of an audience of millions, and, perhaps more importantly, right in front of Marina.  
_  
"You know I love you."_ She had said it. She had actually said it. Exhausted from three days of performing and competing in turf wars, thrilled from the fresh reveal that her team had won the Splatfest, overwhelmed with excitement that the second anniversary of their run as Splatfest organizers had been marked by such a massive celebration, she had looked her co-host dead in the eyes and made a confession of _love _to her.

Marina had broken into a pile of overjoyed sobs and hiccups on the spot, a response which was "amazing for ratings" (as the producer had eagerly informed them) but was significantly less amazing for getting on with the rest of the news broadcast. They'd been forced to take an unprecedented ten-minute break before announcing the morning's ink battle stages, with a couple of studio workers rushing to help Marina calm down while Pearl sat and slowly processed the words that had come out of her mouth. The rest of the show had consisted of both of them struggling to keep their emotions in check – one fighting back a second wave of happy tears, the other wrestling with frayed nerves and a swelling anxiousness – just long enough to make it through the broadcast.

Now, with the show over and the tech crew packing up all of the filming equipment for the day, Pearl sat glued to the beanbag chair she always occupied during broadcasts. _Marina is right there,_ she thought. _Staring straight at me._ The idea of approaching her co-host crush made Pearl's hearts race. _What will she say?_ So focused on her thoughts, she barely noticed when said crush walked up beside her.

"Pearlie?"

"AGH!" Pearl nearly jumped out of her seat, but was quickly reminded that her seat was very large and very soft and that she was a bit too sunken into it to propel herself out easily. "O-oh, um. Hi, uh, 'Rina," she stammered out upon realizing who was talking to her.

Marina offered a tender smile, crouching down to sit on the floor beside Pearl. Her expression was soft, and it was clear from her face and the occasional quiet sniffle that she was still trying to hold her emotions in. _No no no why does she have to be so cute?!_

"Are you doing okay?" she asked, and it was all Pearl could do to respond with a silent nod. "Are you sure? You seem kind of… well… _not-Pearl-like_ all of a sudden." The hint of worry in her voice betrayed her expression, and Pearl forced herself up to muster up a verbal answer.

"I'm okay, 'Rina. Promise. Just, uh… got a lot of stuff on my mind suddenly." (Mostly one thing on her mind, really.)

Marina responded in turn with a short hum of acknowledgment. "So, about… what you said earlier."  
_  
Here it comes. _Pearl tried to stop the pounding in her chest. How would Marina respond? Would she feel the same? Turn her down? Say she was _mortified_ that Pearl would say something so _personal_ on air? Her initial reaction had seemed positive, sure, but…

"I… didn't know you felt that way, Pearlie," Marina continued, tucking her knees against her chest and resting her head on them. "I mean, I know we've had each other's backs since the day we met, and you've always been so kind to me, but… I never realized our friendship meant so much to you. I always sort of thought… I dunno, that maybe you just felt obligated to stick around and watch out for me or something." She turned her head and glanced away slightly, and every part of Pearl wanted to reach out and just hold her.  
_  
Wait. Friendship…?_ Oh. Oh no. She hadn't even realized what Pearl meant. Oh _no_.

"Huh? Of course not, 'Rina!" Pearl's leg bounced anxiously as she tried to choose her words; her mind was reeling knowing Marina was completely oblivious to her unintentional confession, but what mattered more right now was chasing her doubts away. "I wouldn't have stuck around with you for so long if you weren't important to me. 'Sides," she added, putting on a confident grin, "there's no need for me to watch out for someone who's already plenty tough herself."

Marina looked back over to Pearl, tears welling up in her eyes once again; Pearl shoved down the urge to reach over and wipe those tears away. "Thanks, Pearl," she said in a soft voice. "I don't know what I did to deserve such an amazing friend." There was that word again – _friend_. Of course it was something Pearl was glad to be, but something about that word stung ever so slightly now.

"Me too, 'Rina. Me too." Pearl smiled at her, then thought to glance behind her toward the rest of the room. It was empty by now; the workers had finished packing up and left, and now the two of them were left alone in the dimly-lit soundstage.

"Oh. I… guess we should probably get home, huh?" Marina commented, having simultaneously noticed the vacant room. She uncurled her legs and rose to her feet, offering Pearl a hand to help her out of her beanbag. Pearl took it with hesitation.

"Yeah, I guess we should," Pearl agreed. The two of them left the studio together – Marina grabbing a baggy yellow bomber jacket to wear over her performance outfit on the way to the door – and stepped out into the warm midsummer air. The sun shone bright overhead, but a lax breeze kept the air cool as they walked down the sidewalk past Inkopolis Square.

The Square was quiet, for once. Even the city's perpetually-energized inkling population wasn't a match for three consecutive days of Splatfest celebration, and most had shuffled home to relax in bed as soon as the last battles had ended. Only a small crowd had waited through the tallying hours that morning to see the final results live, and said crowd was by now completely dispersed. The only people to be seen were cleanup crew – a lot of jellyfish, some anemones and crustaceans, and even one unfamiliar urchin who Pearl noticed picking up trash in a particularly shaded corner. Several of them offered smiles and waves to the girls as they passed, which they both returned.

A few moments later, Pearl sat on a shaded bench beneath a glass bus shelter. Marina stood beside her, leaning against the side of the shelter as she checked the local bus schedule on her phone. "It looks like the next bus will be here in ten," Marina said after a moment, then slid her phone back into her pocket and joined Pearl on the bench. "Want to grab some lunch on the way to the train station?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, sure," Pearl answered. Marina frowned.

"Are you sure you're alright, Pearlie? Do you want to talk about whatever's on your mind?"

"I-it's fine! Really, I swear." Pearl looked away awkwardly. She wasn't sure what to do; her accidental confession earlier had opened the floodgates, and now it was a struggle to keep herself from spilling her guts and voicing every single embarrassing thought that ran through her when she looked at Marina. But at the same time, Marina didn't even _know_ that confession had been a confession, so Pearl was once again stuck behind a wall of nervousness that made it impossible for her to say anything.

She didn't look when Marina spoke, but she could tell from her tone that she was beginning to worry again. "Okay… but if you're still acting like this by the time we get back to your place, I'm going to want to know what's going on."

Pearl nodded her head, but kept staring at the sidewalk. _I can't just keep hiding it,_ she told herself. _I have to tell her. I _have _to._ She made up her mind: the trip home would be spent gathering up as much courage as she possibly could, and once they were back home, Pearl would force herself to share her feelings no matter how hard it was.

Probably. Maybe. Hopefully. 

* * *

They arrived at Pearl's house – a luxurious mansion at the edge of Inkopolis, originally owned by her father but purchased not long ago with funds from Pearl's music career – sometime in the early afternoon. Marina opened the door for both of them, closing it firmly behind and heading upstairs to swap her outfit. (Marina technically had her own apartment closer to Inkopolis Square, but Pearl's house was so spacious and she spent so much time hanging out at it that she had a guest room set aside just for her, with a few changes of clothes at the ready.)

Pearl, meanwhile, walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch. Normally, she would do the same as Marina and head up to her room to change before anything else; as cute as her performance clothes were, they were _not _meant to be worn for more than a few hours at a time. Today, though, she could hardly think of anything but how to tell Marina how she felt.

Her best efforts to hype herself up had fallen through. Between the bus ride, the short stop for lunch at that cozy sandwich shop near the train station, and then the train ride out to the edge of the city, she had had _plenty _of time – but Marina had been right there the whole way, and every single time she looked over and saw those soft pink-and-blue eyes; those adorable tentacles gently curling and swaying; that impossibly perfect smile whenever Marina spoke, her confidence fell apart and left her back at the starting line.

Pearl grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. She kept the volume low, but flipped through the channels looking for something calm to help her focus. Sports, no… sitcoms, no… romance movies, _absolutely not…_ a nature documentary? Sure, that would do. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then slouched back against the couch and stared at the screen as a narrator with a relaxing voice and a noticeable Urchin accent explained the life cycle of some cool plant that apparently grew somewhere far to the northeast of Inkopolis.

About ten minutes later, Marina came back downstairs. She was dressed casually in a knee-length, pastel green skirt and white t-shirt, her tentacles pulled upward into a neatly-styled bun. She came into the living room and joined Pearl on the couch, sitting entirely too close and entirely too cozily for Pearl to keep her mind off. "What're we watching?" she asked.

"U-uh," Pearl glanced between the television and the octoling girl who was half-leaning against her, just inches from being cuddled up at her side. "Just… some documentary I saw about…" She grasped for the plant's name. "Northern… coral-bushes? Yeah, that sounds right."

"Ooh, neat!" Marina smiled, and the tips of her tentacles wiggled in a gesture that Pearl recognized as curiosity. Oh, for goodness's sake, she could even tell the girl's emotions just based on how her _tentacles _moved.

"Yeah… they said, uh, somethin' about how they grow all over the North because they can… survive really cold temperatures, or something. I wasn't paying that much attention, heh." _Say it, Pearl. _Pearl looked away, over the side of the couch.

"Oh, I think I heard about that! I saw a magazine article about how there are entire islands covered in coral plants because of how resilient they are. Maybe this is related to that." _Say it.  
_  
Pearl hazarded a glance back at Marina; her eyes were on the screen, thankfully not noticing Pearl's wordless battle with herself. _She looks so peaceful focusing on some boring documentary... gah!_ Pearl forced herself to look away again. This was going to be hard.

"Pearlie…?" Pearl shut her eyes tight when she heard Marina's voice again. She had noticed after all. It was now or never. "There's still something bothering you, isn't there?" A gentle hand touched Pearl's shoulder, and a shiver ran through her. _Just say it._

She inhaled, exhaled, first once and then twice. "Marina..." _Come on and say it! _She struggled to make the words come out until her entire body felt tense. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't make her feelings come out again. It made her want to run, to find somewhere to hide away and just let it all out where nobody could see her – but Marina could see her here, and Pearl knew she couldn't walk away from this situation. She was either going to confess her feelings then and there, or she was going to start crying from the stress of not being able to.  
_  
No,_ she thought after a long silence. _No. Pearl Houzuki is stronger than that. If you could say it once accidentally, you can say it again on purpose._ She breathed in deep for a third time, forced her muscles to unclench themselves, and turned to face her crush. "Marina… I need to say something. About what I said during the show earlier."

Marina blinked. "Oh. What is it?"

Pearl balled her hands into fists. _You can do this, Pearl. You! can! do! this!_ "It's about… when I said all that stuff… when I said that I–" She nearly choked on the next word. "–_love_ you. I didn't mean that."

"Huh…?" Marina's lips curled down into a frown. _Wait, no, carp. Bad phrasing! Bad phrasing!  
_  
"N-no! I mean, I– I mean… I didn't mean it like a friend." Pearl paused, then quickly added, "You're my friend, of course! I just mean… I… I meant it like…"

Marina cocked her head to the side in confusion as Pearl struggled to get her words out. There was a short, awkward moment before a look of sudden realization dawned on her face, and her eyes went wide as a faint teal blush colored her cheeks. "Oh, Pearl..." she said, almost in a whisper.

"I… I meant that I love you, 'Rina! As a friend, but like, I also– I also wanna date you and hold your hand and be your girlfriend, and, and–" Pearl could tell just from the heat in her cheeks that her face was probably bright pink by now, and the ink in her tentacles was starting to bubble at the edges from the rush of finally admitting how she felt. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but they were positive tears now. "I just… I just think you're so amazing, and you're so– and you mean so much to me, and I think I wanna be more than just friends. I think–"

Her words were cut off by Marina's arms wrapping around her and pulling her into a comforting hug. For a moment, she was caught off-guard – but as soon as she realized, she eagerly returned the gesture, burying her face in Marina's shoulder as the taller girl gently rocked her side to side. "Pearlie..." Marina's voice wobbled ever so slightly, and Pearl heard a sniff. She wasn't the only one crying.

"I love you, 'Rina," Pearl said softly.

She felt a hand on the back of her head, slowly stroking her tentacles, putting her instantly at ease in her love's embrace. "I love you too, Pearlie," came the answer.

The two sat there for a long moment, content simply to hold each other and let their emotions flow out. The documentary was forgotten, fading into unimportant background noise along with everything else around them. They had hugged plenty of times before, both as a form of comforting when one of them was upset and as a simple way of expressing their closeness – but this time… this time was different. Pearl felt more comfortable now than she could recall ever feeling before, her entire body relaxed as she and Marina slowly swayed in each other's arms. Here, nestled together on this couch they had shared countless times before, was the personal heaven she had been dreaming of every day for months now.

She didn't want to let go, and Marina didn't make her. When the embrace did finally end, the two stayed close, keeping their arms wrapped around each other's shoulders as they pulled back to look each other in the eyes with teary smiles. Marina was the first to break the silence.  
"Pearl… do you want me to… to be your girlfriend?" she asked around still-falling tears.

Pearl smiled wide up at her, nodding her head. "There's nothing I want more, 'Rina. Do you… d' you want me to be _your _girlfriend?"

Marina just smiled back – a familiar smile, the kind that told Pearl she already knew the answer. Marina pulled her into another tight hug, and the two fell backwards onto the couch, lying side by side and clinging tight to each other.

"You and me against the universe?" Pearl asked, giving Marina a loving squeeze.

"Rocking the mic until the end of time," Marina answered, and the two broke into a fit of joyous giggles together.

Neither knew for sure what the future held – what was next for Off The Hook, for Inkopolis, for anyone – but they both knew one thing: they were going into it as a duo, and nothing was ever going to tear them apart.


End file.
